REHABILITATION COUNCIL OF INDIA ACT

Preamble

REHABILITATION COUNCIL OF INDIA ACT, 1992

[Act, No. 34 of 1992]

[1st September, 1992]

PREAMBLE

An Act to provide for the constitution of the Rehabilitation Council of India for1[and monitoring the training of rehabilitation professionals and personnel, promoting research in rehabilitation and special education,] the maintenance of a Central Rehabilitation Reg­ister and for matters connected therewith or incidental thereto.

BE it enacted by Parliament in the Forty-third Year of the Republic of India as follows :--

1.Substituted for "the training of rehabilitation professionals" by The Rehabilitation Council Of India (Amendment) Act, 2000 (38 of 2000) w.e.f. 04.09.2000.

Chapter I

Section 1. Short title and commencement

(1) This Act may be called the Rehabilitation Council of India Act, 1992.

(2) It shall come into force on such date1as the Central Government may, by notification in the Official Gazette, appoint.

1. 1-7-93

Section 2. Definitions

(1) In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires,--

(a) Chairperson means the Chairperson of the Council appointed under sub-section (3) of sec­tion 3;

(b) Council means the Rehabilitation Council of India constituted under section 3;

1[(c) handicapped means a person suffering from any disability referred to in clause (i) of section 2 of the Persons With Disabilities (Equal Opportunities, Protection of Rights and Full Participation) Act, 1995 (1 of 1996);]

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(f) member means a member appointed under sub-section (3) of section 3 and includes the Chairperson;

(g) Member-Secretary means the Member-Secretary appointed under sub-section (1) of section 8;

(h) mental retardation means a condition of arrested or incomplete development of mind of a person which is specially characterised by sub-normality of intelligence;

(i) notification means a notification published in the Official Gazette;

(j) prescribed means prescribed by regulations;

(k) recognised rehabilitation qualification means any of the qualifications included in the Sched­ule;

(viii) such other category of professionals as the Central Government may, in consultation with the Council, notify from time to time;

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3[(1A) Words and expressions used and not defined in this Act but defined in the Persons With Disabilities (Equal Opportunities, Protection of Rights and Full Participation) Act, 1995 (1 of 1996) shall have the meanings respectively assigned to them in that Act]

(2) Any reference in this Act to any enactment or any provision thereof shall, in relation to an area in which such enactment or such provision is not in force, be construed as a reference to the correspond­ing law or the relevant provision of the corresponding law, if any, in force in that area.

1. Substituted by The Rehabilitation Council Of India (Amendment) Act, 2000 (38 of 2000) w.e.f. 04.09.2000. Prior to substitution it read as under:

"(c) handicapped means a person--

(i) visually handicapped;

(ii) hearing handicapped;

(iii) suffering from locomotor disability; or

(iv) suffering from mental retardation;"

2. Clause (d) and (e) omitted by The Rehabilitation Council Of India (Amendment) Act, 2000 (38 of 2000) w.e.f. 04.09.2000. Prior to omission they read as under:

"(d) hearing handicap means deafness with hearing impairment of 70 decibels and above, in the better or total loss of hearing in both ears;

(e) locomotor disability means person's inability to execute distinctive activities associated with moving, both himself and objects, from place to place and such inability resulting from affliction of either bones, joints, muscles or nerves;"

3. Inserted by The Rehabilitation Council Of India (Amendment) Act, 2000 (38 of 2000) w.e.f. 04.09.2000.

4. clause (o) omitted by The Rehabilitation Council Of India (Amendment) Act, 2000 (38 of 2000) w.e.f. 04.09.2000. Prior to omission it read as under:

"(o) Visually handicapped means a person who suffers from any of the following conditions, namely:--

(i) total absence of sight;

(ii) visual acquity (acuity) not exceeding 6/60 or 20/200 (snellen) in the better eye with the correcting lenses; or

(iii) limitation of the field of vision subtending and angle of degree or worse."

Chapter II

Section 3. Constitution and incorporation of Rehabilitation Council of India

(1) With effect from such date as the Central Government may, by notification, appoint in this behalf, there shall be consti­tuted for the purposes of this Act a Council to be called the Rehabilitation Council of India.

(2) The Council shall be a body corporate by the name aforesaid, having perpetual succession and a common seal, with power, subject to the provisions of this Act, to acquire, hold and dispose of prop­erty, both movable and immovable, and to contract and shall by the said name sue and be sued.

(3) The Council shall consist of the following members, namely :--

1[(a) a Chairperson, from amongst the persons having experience in adminis­tration with professional qualification in the field of rehabilitation, disabilities, and special education, to be appointed by the Central Government;

(b) such number of members not exceeding seven, as may be nominated by the Central Government, to represent the Ministries of the Central Government dealing with matters relating to persons with disabilities;]

(c) one member to be appointed by the Central Government to represent the University Grants Commission;

(d) one member to be appointed by the Central Government to represent the Directorate General of Indian Council of Medical Research;

(e) two members to be appointed by the Central Government to represent the Ministry or depart­ment of the States or the Union territories dealing with Social Welfare by rotation in alphabetical order;

(f) such number of members not exceeding six as may be appointed by the Central Government from amongst the rehabilitation professionals working in voluntary organisations;

(g) such number of members not exceeding four as may be appointed by the Central Government from amongst the medical practitioners enrolled under the Indian Medical Council Act, 1956 and en­gaged in rehabilitation of the handicapped;

(h) three Members of Parliament of whom two shall be elected by the House of the People and one by the Council of States;

(i) such number of members not exceeding three as may be nominated by the Central Govern­ment from amongst the social workers who are actively engaged in assisting the disabled; (j) the Member-Secretary, ex officio.

(4) The office of member of the Board shall not disqualify its holder for being chosen as, or for being, a Member of either House of Parliament.

(2) Notwithstanding anything contained in the Industrial Disputes Act, 1947 or any other law for the time being in force, absorption of any employee by the Council in its regular service under this section shall not entitle such employee to any compensation under that Act or other law and no such claim shall be entertained by any Court, tribunal or other authority.

Explanation.-- In this section, "Rehabilitation Council" means the Rehabilitation Council, a society formed and registered under the Societies Registration Act, 1860 and functioning as such imme­diately before the constitution of the Council.

1 . Clause (a) and (b) substituted by The Rehabilitation Council Of India (Amendment) Act, 2000 (38 of 2000). Prior to substitution they read as under:

"(a) a Chairperson, from amongst the persons having experience in social work or rehabilitation, to be appointed by the Central Government;

(b) three members to be appointed by the Central Government to represent respectively the Min­istries of the Central Government dealing with--

(i) Welfare;

(ii) Health; and

(iii) Finance;"

Section 4. Term of office of Chairperson and members

(1) The Chairperson or a member shall hold office for a term of two years from the date of his appointment or until his successor shall have been duly appointed, whichever is longer.

(2) A casual vacancy in the Council shall be filed in accordance with the provisions of section 3 and the person so appointed shall hold office only for the remainder of the term for which the member in whose place he was appointed would have held that office.

(3) The Council shall meet at least once in each year at such time and place as may be appointed by the Council and shall observe such rules of procedure in the transaction of business at a meeting as may be prescribed.

(4) The Chairperson or, if for any reason, he is unable to attend the meeting of the Council, any member elected by the members present from amongst themselves at the meeting shall preside at the meeting.

(5) All questions which come up before any meeting of the Council shall be decided by a majority of votes of the members present and voting, and in the event of an equality of votes, the Chairperson, or in his absence, the person presiding shall have a second or casting vote.

Section 5. Disqualifications

No person shall be a member if he--

(a) is, or becomes, of unsound mind or is so declared by a competent Court; or

(b) is, or has been, convicted of any offence which, in the opinion of the Central Government, involves moral turpitude; or

(c) is, or at any time has been, adjudicated as insolvent.

Section 6. Vacation of office by members

If a member--

(a) becomes subject to any of the disqualifications mentioned in section 5; or

(b) is absent without excuse, sufficient in the opinion of the Council, from three consecutive meetings of the Council; or

(c) ceases to be enrolled on the Indian Medical Register in the case of a member referred to in clause (g) of sub-section (3) of section 3;

his seat shall thereupon become vacant.

Section 7. Executive Committee and other committees

(1) The Council shall constitute from amongst its members an Executive Committee and such other committees for general or special purposes as the Council deems necessary to carry out the purposes of this Act.

(2) The Executive Committee shall consist of the Chairperson who shall be member ex officio and not less than seven and not more than ten members who shall be nominated by the Council from amongst its members.

(3) The Chariperson shall be the Chairperson of the Executive Committee.

(4) In addition to the powers and duties conferred and imposed upon it by this Act, the Executive Committee or any other committee shall exercise and discharge such powers and duties as the Council may confer or impose upon it by any regulations which may be made in this behalf.

Section 8. Member-Secretary and employees of Council

(1) The Central Government shall appoint the Member-Secretary of the Council to exercise such powers and perform such duties under the direction of the Council as may be prescribed or as may be delegated to him by the Chairperson.

(2) The Council shall, with the previous sanction of the Central Government employ such officers and other employees as it deems necessary to carry out the purpose of this Act.

(3) The Council shall, with the previous sanction of the Central Government, fix the allowances to be paid to the Chairperson and other members and determine the conditions of service of the Member-Secretary, officers and other employees of the Council.

Section 9. Vacancies in the Council not to invalidate acts, etc.

No act or proceeding of the Council or any committee thereof shall be called in question on the ground merely of the existence of any vacancy in, or any defect in the constitution of, the Council or a committee thereof, as the case may be.

Section 10. Dissolution of Rehabilitation Council and transfer of rights, liabilities and employees of Rehabilitation Council to Council

(1) On and from the date of the constitution of the Council, the Rehabilitation Council shall stand dissolved and on such dissolution,--

(a) all properties and assets, movable and immovable, of, or belonging to, the Rehabilitation Council shall vest in the Council;

(b) all the rights and liabilities of the Rehabilitation Council shall be transferred to, and be the rights and liabilities of, the Council;

(c) without prejudice to the provisions of clause (b), all liabilities incurred, all contracts entered into and all matters and things engaged to be done by, with or for the Rehabilitation Council immediately before that date, for or in connection with the purposes of the said Rehabilitation Council shall be deemed to have been incurred, entered into, or engaged to be done by, with or for, the Council;

(d) all sums of money due to the Rehabilitation Council immediately before that date shall be deemed to be due to the Council;

(e) all suits and other legal proceedings instituted or which could have been instituted by or against the Rehabilitation Council immediately before that date may be continued or may be instituted by or against the Council; and

(f) every employee holding any office under the Rehabilitation Council immediately before that date shall hold his office in the Council by the same tenure and upon the same terms and conditions of service as respects remuneration, leave, provident fund, retirement and other terminal benefits as he would have held such office as if the Council had not been constituted and shall continue to do so as an employee of the Council or until the expiry of a period of six months from that date if such employee opts not to be the employee of the Council within such period.

Chapter III

(1) The qualifications granted by any University or other institution in India which are included in the Schedule shall be recognised qualifications for rehabilitation professionals.

(2) Any University or other institution which grants qualification for the rehabilitation professionals not included in the Schedule may apply to the Central Government to have any such qualification recognised, and the Central Government, after consulting the Council may, by notification, amend the Schedule so as to include such qualification therein and any such notification may also direct that an entry shall be made in the last column of the Schedule against such qualification only when granted after a specified date.